Tomographic Bright Field Imaging (tbfi)

1. A method of imaging a sample illuminated by a light source of a transillumination microscope, the method of imaging a sample illuminated by a light source of a transillumination microscope comprising: focusing on a first z-plane of the sample; focusing on a second z-plane of the sample; measuring the intensity of the light from the light source, said light passing through the sample at the first z-plane and the second z-plane, thereby creating a set of 2-D measurements of the sample; combining the set of 2-D measurements to form a 3-D image cube; processing the image cube using a TBFI algorithm, said TFBI algorithm comprising a transport of intensity equation (TIE) and an Eikonal equation.

2. The method of imaging a sample illuminated by a light source of a transillumination microscope of claim 1 wherein the TFBI algorithm further comprises a first convolution theorem and wherein the processing results in a 3-D image cube of phase values.

3. The method of imaging a sample illuminated by a light source of a transillumination microscope of claim 1 wherein the TFBI algorithm further comprises a relation to a refractive index of the sample and a second convolution theorem.

4. The method of imaging a sample illuminated by a light source of a transillumination microscope of claim 3 wherein the processing results in a 3-D image cube of refractive index values.

5. The method of imaging a sample illuminated by a light source of a transillumination microscope of claim 3 wherein the TFBI algorithm further comprises a calibration model and wherein the processing results in a 3-D image cube of mass density profile values.

6. The method of imaging a sample illuminated by a light source of a transillumination microscope of claim 1 further comprising post processing of the 3-D image cube by defining a border of the sample in the 3-D image cube.

7. The method of imaging a sample illuminated by a light source of a transillumination microscope of claim 6 wherein post processing of the 3-D image cube further comprises determining the volume of the sample, determining the dry mass density of the sample, and/or determining the mass of the sample.

8. The method of imaging a sample illuminated by a light source of a transillumination microscope of claim 7 wherein the dry mass density of the sample is calculated using an equation of n(r ⊥ ,z)=n H 2 O [α(λ)C(r ⊥ ,z)+1], where α(λ) [dL/g] is a specific refractive increment of cell solids.

9. The method of imaging a sample illuminated by a light source of a transillumination microscope of claim 7 wherein the mass of the sample is calculated using an equation of M=∫ D C(r ⊥ ,z)X(r ⊥ ,z)dr ⊥ dz.

10. The method of imaging a sample illuminated by a light source of a transillumination microscope of claim 7 wherein the mass of the sample is calculated using an equation of V=∫ D X (r ⊥ ,z)dr ⊥ dz.